Bathing suits and volleyballs aren’t the first things that come to mind when I think of London, but with the Olympics in town, the dreary city across the pond has done a great job hosting a normally hot sport.

Beach volleyball should work in London about as well as ice fishing works in Miami, but the Olympics have a special way of bringing cultures together and London has done a fine job of providing its own beach atmosphere.

Temperatures got down to 63 degrees Saturday when two-time defending gold medalists Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor of the United States started their 11 p.m. match, so they wore long-sleeved shirts instead of the traditional bikini tops.

That’s what you have to do in London.

It doesn’t seem right to play such a tropical sport in such harsh conditions, but I like that the elements are adding to the competition.

I hope the weather gets worse.

Bring on the rain, and let the wind blow.

I can see beach volleyball in a warm climate right here in Jacksonville Beach but I want May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings to earn their third gold medal by taking on everything London has to offer.

Their big names are big draws, so all their matches are scheduled for the last slot of the night.

I hope they’re ready to bundle up.

Time for a uniform change

I’ve been waiting a long time for the Penn State story to die down a little so the sports world can get back to normal, but now that much of the mess is in the rearview mirror, I’d like one more thing to happen in Happy Valley:

The school needs to change its football uniforms.

Along with Notre Dame, Penn State has some of the most traditional uniforms in college football, but now that their tradition is tarnished, it’s time for the Nittany Lions to change their look.

I don’t care if they talk to the people at the University of Oregon to modernize their garb or if they simply put a logo on their helmet, something needs to be done.

Until they change what they wear, I will think of Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky every time the Nittany Lions run out of the tunnel.

I’ve always loved classic uniforms over modern looks. But at Penn State, any change is good.